


Ribbons of Light

by rangerkier



Category: BomBARDed (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-10
Updated: 2018-12-10
Packaged: 2019-09-15 09:16:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16930536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerkier/pseuds/rangerkier
Summary: Bardvent Day 9: Lights. Being back home in the mountain isn't exactly the best, but Raz'ul will still share some of his old joys with his friends.





	Ribbons of Light

Something made of a heavy fabric hit him out of nowhere, covering his face. He heard a startled yelp from Yashee, probably not unlike his own, and pulled the article down see that their coats had been thrown at them.

“Yashee! Randy! Come with me! There’s something I want to show you!”

Randy looked around and saw Raz’ul standing in the doorway, his own coat in his arms. He was smiling hugely, like some little kid that was about to be let in on some great secret. Or maybe like a little kid that was about to share some great secret.

Raz’ul hadn’t really smiled much since they’d arrived in Udalloli, since Usumptin had been taken from him. He kept telling Randy and Yashee he was happy to be home, smiling as he tried to assure them. But it was always tinged with sadness, with the loss of his music and bardic ways. He told them how great his family was, how much he loved them. Right now, Randy really only believed that Raz’ul loved them. It seemed that nearly every other time Raz’ul had a private conversation with his father, he returned to them looking downtrodden. Randy could only witness that so many times before he stopped believing that Daz’ul was a good father.

So to see Raz’ul smile, actually smile, Randy didn’t care where he was about to be dragged off to. He hated the cold and the snow, so he wasn’t overjoyed that they were apparently going outside. But if it made Raz’ul act like the cheery goof Randy had come to love, it was more than worth it. 

He stood up, trying to keep his smile a smirk, he couldn’t let on how relieved he was to see Raz’ul’s excitement. “Where are we going?”

“You’ll see! Just- trust me- it’ll be so much better if I don’t try to explain!” Raz’ul turned and walked out into the hallway, all but bouncing through the door. 

Randy looked back over his shoulder at Yashee, an eyebrow raised in a question. She shrugged in response as she stood up to follow their friend, and he could tell that she was just happy he was acting like his old self too. 

Out in the hallway, Raz’ul actually was bouncing now, repeatedly raising his heels off the ground as he didn’t seem able to stand still. His coat was still just held at his side, so Randy held off on putting his on as well. Yashee closed the door behind her and Raz’ul started off down the hall.

“Come on!”

Randy smiled again, sure he was unable to keep it from looking genuine this time. But Raz’ul’s back was turned, so it didn’t matter as much. He felt Yashee gently bump his shoulder and looked up to see her grinning at him. 

Raz’ul led them through the mountain halls for a surprisingly long time, especially considering Randy had assumed they would be going outside, what with the coats. They took a path Randy was sure he had never been down, though it was hard for him to tell since the stone halls all looked alike to him. 

It honestly just reminded Randy how much he hated the mountain, not that he would ever let Raz’ul know that. Randy had never been in an inside that was this sprawling and vast before, so completely cut off from the outside. While everything was well lit with torches, chandeliers and candelabras, there was essentially no natural light anywhere. It was getting well into winter, so it might not make much of a difference now, but Randy couldn’t imagine spending all your time in a place with no windows. 

That was another thing about being here that he didn’t think was good for Raz’ul. Even if he hadn’t actually started learning their ways until he first left Mount Tain, Raz’ul was a druid through and through. Whenever they had too long a break between missions, staying in Strumlott’s, taking classes and doing homework, Raz’ul would make frequent trips to the nearby forest to just walk. His window was always open, letting in the breeze and the sounds and smells of the outdoors, his room was full of plant life that he loved and cared for. Being completely cut off from all that by the unknowably thick walls of the mountains had to be getting to him. 

“Are we actually going somewhere, or just walking through the same hallway over and over again?” Randy quipped, trying to purge the negative thoughts of Raz’ul’s home from his mind. 

“I know it takes a bit, but I promise, it’s worth it!” Raz’ul glanced back at him and Randy could see that he was genuinely worried that Randy was annoyed.

“Hey,” Randy jogged for a moment to catch up and gently bumped shoulders with Raz’ul. “I was just joking. I’m sure it’ll be great.” 

Raz’ul gave him a self-conscious smile. “Well, we’re almost there anyway. Like, one more corner. You might want to get your coat on now.”

“Oh, so that wasn’t just to give my hands something to do on this walk?” he smiled, hoping that his tone was more jovial this time, and swung his coat on. Behind them, since he had unintentionally left her behind when he caught up to Raz’ul, Yashee did the same.

It ended up being two more corners before Raz’ul stopped them at a door. He gave them another nervous and excited smile before pulling it open. The cold hit him like a speeding carriage and Randy pulled the turtleneck of his sweater up to cover his face. Raz’ul stepped out into swirling snowflakes, vaguely gesturing for them to follow. Randy could hear Raz’ul release a contented sigh, not quite stolen away by the wind. He and Yashee shared a glance before following Raz’ul outside, seeing what had him so excited this whole time.

The area they stepped out onto wasn’t very large, just a small balcony that, when he looked around, Randy could see simply sat on the side of the mountain, a flat area carved out and left exposed to the elements. But neither he nor Yashee thought for a moment that Raz’ul brought them here to show them a balcony.

The sky above them was aglow. Not just with the stars they were all so familiar with, but with dancing ribbons of colored light. Green seemed to be the most prominent color, but there were also pinks, purples and blues flowing and waving to some unheard beat. Randy felt his own jaw drop, heard Yashee’s gasp a moment later after she pulled the door shut behind them. Raz’ul stepped forward and put his hands on the carved railing, staring up at the sky.

“What are they, Raz?” Yashee wondered, her voice awestruck. 

Raz’ul looked up at her, his smile and his eyes bright in the glow of the lights above. “They’re called the Aurora Borealis.” 

Having been slowly learning to read and write, Randy felt a headache try to form as his brain tried to imagine what that word would look like a page. “That sounds like hell to spell.”

Raz’ul laughed. “It is. Another name is just the Northern Lights. A bit easier to remember.”

“But… _What_ are they? Like, why are they there?”

This time Raz’ul only shrugged. “I don’t think anyone really knows, definitely no one agrees. People here, Udalloli, I mean, believe that they have to do with great warriors we’ve lost. That their either the spirits of those warriors, watching over the clan, or that they’re a display of honor from the gods for those warriors. 

“Reed told me that they’re spirits of the world around us, of animals and plants. I’d bet somewhere else, someone else has another, completely different belief about them.”

“What do _you_ believe they are?” Randy tore his eyes away from the display long enough to look down at his friend again, who was looking up, a thoughtful crease on his brow. 

“I don’t know. I grew up believing what my people told me, because why would they lie, ya know? But what Reed said… As a druid that makes a lot of sense to me too. Maybe I believe they’re all right. Maybe there’s the spirits of our warriors up there, right alongside ancient trees and noble forest creatures. I don’t see why anyone should be left out.”

“Sounds nice,” Randy grinned, crossing his arms and tucking his hands under them, trying to shield them from the cold. He didn’t know what he thought of all that spirit stuff, but he’d asked what Raz’ul believed because he wanted to know, not so he could doubt or question it. 

“Maybe the different colors are different spirits. Green is everything from nature; it’s huge and all melds together. Plant life knows that there’s no reason to be seperate, so their spirits meld and intertwine. In Udalloli,” he pointed to a certain section of the sky and Randy followed his finger to see a small strip of red joining in the dance. “Red is a color of remembrance. So maybe that’s one of my ancestors.” 

“Know what they remind me of?” Yashee asked. “Sheet music! See how some of them kind of look like sheets, but the layers are like the lines of the staff?” she pointed out another section of sky, waving her hands a bit to add to her explanation.

“Yeah, I can see that too,” Raz’ul smiled.

“Plus, the way they move looks like their dancing,” Randy added, wiggling his shoulders in his own little dance.

“Ha! Yeah, warriors, plants, animals, music and dance. What isn’t up there?” Raz’ul’s voice lowered and so did his head. He crossed his arms on the railing and rested his head on them, hiding the lower part of his face even as he continued to watch the lights.

“Hey,” Yashee gently put her hand on Raz’ul’s back, apparently feeling the same concern Randy did. “Are you okay, man?”

“Yeah,” Raz’ul raised his face a bit so he wasn’t talking into his arms, allowing Randy and Yashee to see that he was still smiling serenely. “Yeah, I just missed this.”

“Well, thanks for showing us! It was definitely worth the walk here!”

“Definitely,” Randy seconded. 

“I’m glad. I’m glad I could share this with you.”

The three of them stayed there for a while, leaning against the railing of the balcony, watching the ribbons of light that danced above them.


End file.
